Hammock
by mvdiva
Summary: A little Kaylee vignette of a regular Serenity morning and her thoughts on the best spot in the 'verse.


Just for reference, this is just a little Kaylee vignette. Nothing terribly interesting or important, but I like to play around in characters' heads. This one takes place anywhere after 'Our Mrs. Reynolds' and the end of the series, but before the movie. And yes, the crew of the good ship Serenity do eat pancakes, but only because I say so.

Hammock

She had a nice bunk. Granted, it wasn't terribly warm or cozy, but she had used some of her share of their first couple jobs to buy prints of butterflies and flowers and a few meters of fabric to drape over the bare bulkheads. It wasn't much, but it cheered the place up a bit, and she figured that was enough to make her four walls a little cheerier.

Her bunk was comfy, but it wasn't home. Home was Serenity in general, but her engine room in particular. The sharp angles, jutting pipes and wires underfoot might have made another human nervous – and in fact some of her crew mates made it a habit never to set foot in her sanctuary – but this claustrophobic room of muted colors and the smell of engine grease had lulled Kaylee to sleep in the worn hammock many a time.

Once in a while, she'd awake with a start and tumble to the floor in a heap, the oily aura of the room a tangible taste in her mouth. Those were the times that her face would flush in embarrassment and relief that Simon hadn't been there to see it and laugh.

"Simon..." Kaylee pulled her head out of her comfy little cocoon in the corner and did a visual sweep of the room, just to be sure River or someone hadn't snuck in and heard her whisper his name. No one shared her space. The engine room was mostly silent except for the normal rumble and rotation of the engine core.

She sat up with practiced ease and worked her feet out of the hammock, raising a grease-stained hand to scratch at the scalp under her scraggly hair. Standing slowly, she moved over the small mirror tacked with caution to the bulkhead and sighed at her reflection. Inarra would surely disapprove of her unwashed hair and stained coverall if she could see the mechanic right now.

Kaylee so wanted to be like the elegant Companion that she could feel a physical ache of envy in her bones sometimes when Inarra would dock and come to greet her after an appointment with a client. Oftentimes she would smell of the strong herbal tea that she normally prepared. Raising her right elbow, Kaylee took a sniff under her arm and wrinkled her nose. No amount of herbal tea would cover the stink of her clothes today.

Better wash that taste from her mouth. She smacked her lips and grimaced before glancing at her wrist chrono. The Shepherd might be up by now, but if she scooted she might get a chance at the shower and get back to her bunk without being caught in her towel.

She showered and dressed in the cleanest coverall she could find in record time, but midway through toweling her hair dry, the com rang and the Captain's voice filled her bunk.

"Kaylee, you there?" She sighed, and shuffled over to the bulkhead to hit Send. "I'm here Captain, all bright-eyed and squeaky clean." There was a noticeable pause, and she could imagine his eyebrow raising.

"Right...listen, I need you to get down to that dirty little room of yours and check on our horizontal stabilizers. Wash's been sayin' she's shuddering a bit this mornin'." Kaylee pulled the towel off her head and stuck her tongue out at the com, glad it was voice and not vid. Her engine room wasn't dirty.

"Kaylee, you still there?" She nodded, and realized he couldn't see it over the link.

"I'm on it, Cap'n. Just let me get not-naked." This time there was a longer pause, and then the com switched off with audible click. Kaylee grinned to herself and wiped her palm against her coveralls. The switch was sticky. She made a mental note to bring some cleaner and wipe off the sugary remains of her candy-coated fingertips from the last time they had hit planet-side and she and River had gone hunting for sweets.

Humming tunelessly to herself – Momma had always said her only girl would never make it as a musician like her brothers – Kaylee slipped on her shoes and made her way back to the quiet sanctuary of her engines.

She had to take a spanner to that right stabilizer again, but afterwards she wandered up to the bridge to chat with Zoe and Wash, who were arguing about something like married couples did, but thankfully stopped when they spotted her.

Simon was running another test on River in Serenity's little med chamber, Inarra had jetted off to an appointment as soon as they broke through the atmosphere, probably upset over some fight with Mal. The Captain was in a foul mood from the fight with Inarra and had retreated to the cargo bay to check on their latest job – some fancy box of goods being delivered to a rich guy on the planet below. Kaylee didn't particularly care, other than the fact that their job kept food in their bellies and fuel on the ship.

However, everyone else being occupied meant she was bored and a little sleepy from a big breakfast of pancakes. Her forehead itched, and she rubbed at it with the back of her hand, leaving a smear of dirt and grease there which wouldn't be discovered for hours and eyed the hammock in the corner. It looked so inviting there, sitting half in and half out of the overhead light. She muffled a yawn that was part boredom and part longing, and threw the stupid spanner back in her toolbox. If Wash complained about that stabilizer shaking anymore...well, she'd probably shake him.

With a sigh she pushed herself to her feet and wandered over to the hammock, happily falling in and curling into its instant warmth. The captain had suggested once that she replace the faded material for something a bit sturdier, but she pushed her nose against the fabric and inhaled the scent of herself mingled with the smell of the engine room and that little something that made it feel like home. Replace her sanctuary?

No way.


End file.
